A RENOWNED LEADERSHIP EXPERT EXAMINES THE LIFE OF R ONALD REAGAN, EXTRACTING THE KEY C OMPONENTS OF HIS IMMENSE S UCCESS—PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL—AND OFFERS AN ILLUMINATING MODEL F OR LEADERS AND MANAGERS IN EVERY WALK OF LIFE. Since leaving office, Ronald Reagan has emerged as among America’s greatest— and best-loved—leaders. Today he is known as “the Great Communicator,” but in the course of his sixty-year career, Reagan faced obstacles and hardships that could have stalled him at any point along the way. After every disaster, he picked himself up and kept moving forward. How did he manage his career and handle the hurdles involved in transitioning from actor and union official into a public speaker in high demand and from there into an extraordinarily successful politician? What can we learn from the way the perennial “new kid in town” muscled through adversities, maintained his focus, stayed true to his principles, and achieved his goals? In a compelling narrative that is both a motivational leadership teaching tool and a fascinating biography, bestselling author Margot Morrell sheds light on the challenges and heartbreaks that shaped Ronald Reagan. Four times his life slammed into a brick wall: his 1948 divorce from actress Jane Wyman; the termination of his long-standing contract with Warner Bros.; the end of his eight-year association with General Electric; and a hard-fought loss to President Gerald Ford in the 1976 primary campaign. Setting politics and policies largely aside, Morrell highlights the strategies and tactics Ronald Reagan used to transform himself from shy introvert to confident communicator; the methods and tools he employed to keep his career on track; and the skills he developed that led to his many accomplishments. Each chapter of Reagan’s Journey is followed by summary bullet points and an essential overview titled “Working It In,” to facilitate these lessons into your formation as a leader. Anyone interested in strengthening their leadership and communications skills, becoming more resilient in the face of setbacks, or taking their careers to the next level will find practical and useful lessons in the life of Ronald Reagan.

In a clear and compelling voice, Frances Hesselbein delivers key leadership lessons. Tracing her own development as a leader, she narrates the critical moments that shaped her personally and professionally: from her childhood in Pennsylvania, to moving up from Girl Scout troop leader to Girl Scout CEO, to founding and leading the Leader to Leader Institute, to her friendships and experiences with some of the greatest leaders and thinkers of our time. Each chapter includes an inspirational story, a key lesson and how to apply it to daily life.

A leading historian of the Cold War takes a close-up look at Ronald Reagan and his fierce commitment to battling communism, from his role as a secret informer for the FBI and criticism of 1960s détente to his political and economic war against Moscow as president and his ultimate triumph over communism. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.

"Peggy Grande's memoir is the book to read on Ronald Reagan's post-presidential years.... Among the most unique and touching [books] ever done on the man... Wonderful."--The American Spectator In The President Will See You Now, devoted Reagan insider Peggy Grande shares behind-the-scenes stories, intimate moments, and insights into one of America's most beloved presidents. Grande, who started in the Office of Ronald Reagan as a college student and earned her way into a coveted role as the president's Executive Assistant, offers an unparalleled perspective on the post-presidency of a political icon. Grande's stories and never-before-seen photos show a unique, private side to a public figure and leader who reshaped conservatism, ushered in an era of prosperity, and helped spur the end of the Cold War. Grande reveals what day-to-day life was like in Reagan's California office, including the former president's relationship with the First Lady and his interactions with friends, world leaders, and everyday Americans. Grande recalls how Reagan kept a vigorous schedule for years after he left the White House, his robust engagement with others, and ongoing political advocacy. Despite his eventual Alzheimer's diagnosis, Grande shows how Ronald Reagan remained true to core beliefs, his gentlemanly kindness, and his undying hope for his country. Today the Reagan legacy looms over American politics more than ever. Grande reminds readers why: When Ronald Reagan was president, we not only loved ourselves but also loved America, and the American values he represented: faith, optimism, and patriotism.

This is the story of Bob Lifton who was born in Brooklyn in 1928 to a working class Jewish family and grew up to lead a fascinating life in business and politics that connected him to remarkable people from artists and scientists to kings. With his business partner, a World War II war hero, Lifton’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to a broad range of business endeavors, including an Oscar winning movie score, ownership of the U S men’s National Soccer Team, being landlord to Donald Trump in Atlantic City and buying the Navy aircraft carrier he served on. Their company was the first to integrate a hotel in the South. As President of the American Jewish Congress, and Co-Chair of the Middle East Project of the Council on Foreign Relations, Lifton interacted with Prime Ministers of Israel and heads of Arab nations with a focus on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His story will introduce the reader to the famous and infamous, describing his conversations with Presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, winning the gratitude of President George H.W. Bush, meetings with Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat and fending off overtures from Jimmy Hoffa.

Thoughtful, inspiring, and often surprising, AND THE GOOD NEWS IS . . . traces Dana Perino's unlikely journey through politics and television. It's a remarkable American story-made up of equal parts determination and clear-eyed optimism. From facing professional challenges and confronting personal fears to stepping up to a podium for a President, Dana has come to expect the unexpected and has an uncanny ability to find the good news in any tough situation. AND THE GOOD NEWS IS . . . takes us from her Western childhood in Wyoming and Colorado to a chance meeting on an airplane that changes her life entirely. Then, with refreshing honesty and humor, she recounts her frustration with a string of unsatisfying jobs and living circumstances until a key career tip leads her back to Washington, D.C. to work for the Bush Administration. Dana also shares here her best work and life lessons-tips that will help you to get your point across convincingly while allowing your own grace and personality to shine through. As someone who still believes in working together to solve the problems our nation faces, Dana offers clear, practical advice on how to restore civility to our personal and public conversations. The result is a fascinating read that can help anyone become more successful, productive, and joyously content.

From New York Times bestselling biographer Bob Spitz, a full and rich biography of an epic American life, capturing what made Ronald Reagan both so beloved and so transformational. More than five years in the making, based on hundreds of interviews and access to previously unavailable documents, and infused with irresistible storytelling charm, Bob Spitz's REAGAN stands fair to be the first truly post-partisan biography of our 40th President, and thus a balm for our own bitterly divided times. It is the quintessential American triumph, brought to life with cinematic vividness: a young man is born into poverty and raised in a series of flyspeck towns in the Midwest by a pious mother and a reckless, alcoholic, largely absent father. Severely near-sighted, the boy lives in his own world, a world of the popular books of the day, and finds his first brush with popularity, even fame, as a young lifeguard. Thanks to his first great love, he imagines a way out, and makes the extraordinary leap to go to college, a modest school by national standards, but an audacious presumption in the context of his family's station. From there, the path is only very dimly lit, but it leads him, thanks to his great charm and greater luck, to a solid career as a radio sportscaster, and then, astonishingly, fatefully, to Hollywood. And the rest, as they say, is history. Bob Spitz's REAGAN is an absorbing, richly detailed, even revelatory chronicle of the full arc of Ronald Reagan's epic life - giving full weight to the Hollywood years, his transition to politics and rocky but ultimately successful run as California governor, and ultimately, of course, his iconic presidency, filled with storm and stress but climaxing with his peace talks with the Soviet Union that would serve as his greatest legacy. It is filled with fresh assessments and shrewd judgments, and doesn't flinch from a full reckoning with the man's strengths and limitations. This is no hagiography: Reagan was never a brilliant student, of anything, and his disinterest in hard-nosed political scheming, while admirable, meant that this side of things was left to the other people in his orbit, not least his wife Nancy; sometimes this delegation could lead to chaos, and worse. But what emerges as a powerful signal through all the noise is an honest inherent sweetness, a gentleness of nature and willingness to see the good in people and in this country, that proved to be a tonic for America in his time, and still is in ours. It was famously said that FDR had a first-rate disposition and a second-rate intellect. Perhaps it is no accident that only FDR had as high a public approval rating leaving office as Reagan did, or that in the years since Reagan has been closing in on FDR on rankings of Presidential greatness. Written with love and irony, which in a great biography is arguably the same thing, Bob Spitz's masterpiece will give no comfort to partisans at either extreme; for the rest of us, it is cause for celebration.

"They called it the Reagan revolution," Ronald Reagan noted in his Farewell Address. "Well, I'll accept that, but for me it always seemed more like the great rediscovery, a rediscovery of our values and our common sense." Nearly two decades after that 1989 speech, debate continues to rage over just how revolutionary those Reagan years were. The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction identifies and tackles some of the controversies and historical mysteries that continue to swirl around Reagan and his legacy, while providing an illuminating look at some of the era's defining personalities, ideas, and accomplishments. Gil Troy, a well-known historian who is a frequent commentator on contemporary politics, sheds much light on the phenomenon known as the Reagan Revolution, situating the reception of Reagan's actions within the contemporary liberal and conservative political scene. While most conservatives refuse to countenance any criticism of their hero, an articulate minority laments that he did not go far enough. And while some liberals continue to mourn just how far he went in changing America, others continue to mock him as a disengaged, do-nothing dunce. Nevertheless, as Troy shows, two and a half decades after Reagan's 1981 inauguration, his legacy continues to shape American politics, diplomacy, culture, and economics. Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush modeled much of their presidential leadership styles on Reagan's example, while many of the debates of the '80s about the budget, tax cutting, defense-spending, and American values still rage. Love him or hate him, Ronald Reagan remains the most influential president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, and one of the most controversial. This marvelous book places the Reagan Revolution in the broader context of postwar politics, highlighting the legacies of these years on subsequent presidents and on American life today. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.